How many Delftware factories existed in Delft?

More than 30 Delftware factories operated in Delft during the late 17th century, making the city one of Europe’s biggest ceramic centres at that time. Pottery production expanded rapidly after Dutch traders imported Chinese porcelain into Europe, where local workshops created cheaper blue-and-white alternatives using tin-glazed earthenware. Many factories used names linked with symbols or animals rather than numbered addresses, famous names included The Peacock, The Greek A and The Metal Pot. Records from the Dutch Golden Age show thousands of ceramic items leaving Delft workshops every year for export markets, as pottery makers produced plates, vases, tiles, figurines and pharmacy jars. Competition between factories became fierce during the early 1700s and many workshops closed after porcelain imports from China and England increased. Royal Delft, founded in 1653, remains the only original Delftware factory still operating today. Historians and collectors still study factory marks from the lost workshops of old Delft.